No this trip is only possible with either a GPS .... or a roadbook with a 25 kg roll on it. And then probably only a Montana GPS. It was very difficult to load all the data onto Terry's Zumo.

Navigating the farm trails which often diverge or cross every few hundred metres would be impossible without knowing which one you had to be on.

Hi Walter, loving the ride report. Having just come back from riding the TAT (2up) I know what you mean about the limitations of the Zumo 550. I did all the TAT sections either auto routing on the known roads or with waypoints then creating routes, trying to minimise the number of way points per route. This worked OK but the other couple with us had a Zumo 660 and they are worse, only accepting about 150 waypoints so after about half of each route it would have a straight line to the end !
Did you draw all of the tracks in to create your route ? I havent tried this yet and I am thinking a Montana may be on my shopping list. What is the limit of points per route with the Montana.
Cheers Phil

Hi Walter, loving the ride report. Having just come back from riding the TAT (2up) I know what you mean about the limitations of the Zumo 550. I did all the TAT sections either auto routing on the known roads or with waypoints then creating routes, trying to minimise the number of way points per route. This worked OK but the other couple with us had a Zumo 660 and they are worse, only accepting about 150 waypoints so after about half of each route it would have a straight line to the end !
Did you draw all of the tracks in to create your route ? I havent tried this yet and I am thinking a Montana may be on my shopping list. What is the limit of points per route with the Montana.
Cheers Phil

I believe its 10,000 per track, 200 tracks. (You use tracks in Montana, rather than routes)

So on the morning of day 22, Terry and I went downstairs for breakfast in the cafe and noticed the stunning girl in tiny white clothes from yesterday was sitting in reception, behind the desk.

I asked the waitress in the cafe who she was ... was she the owners girlfriend?

But no, apparently she works at the hotel part time, in reception. Her name was Olga and she had been there a few months. I told Terry I would take care of checking out of the hotel after breakfast.

After breakfast, Terry went downstairs to load up his bike and I went to check out of our room and have a chat with Olga, the vision in white. Sadly, she was married to an officer in the border troops (they had a base in Pervomayskiy), was not from around here and was pretty bored in the small town. We chatted for a while before I asked her to come and pose for a picture with the bikes (straddling the bike in her miniskirt was what I had in mind). But despite my best efforts, smoothest lines and cutest puppy dog eyes, she smiled sweetly, shook her head and offered me more tea and biscuits in her office and just continued chatting.

Eventually I gave up. Guys I tried my hardest. I kept thinking the guys on ADV are going to love it if I can get a pic of this one. But it wasnt to be.

I had to break off my lovely chat with Olga. If I wasnt going to get a pic for the ADV boys, then this conversation was a waste of time. I went downstairs to load the bike up. It was right outside her window. Terry pointed out that she spend every second of the 10 minutes it took me to load the bike up and do a few checks, staring at us out the office window. I managed to get a pic thru the office window, but I am afraid it does not do her justice. She looks quite plain here, but I am sure Terry would back me up when I tell you in real life, she was stunning and she definitely knew how to make an entrance.

So for anyone who follows the Sibirsky Extreme Trail in future, I want updates on Olga at the waypointed hotel in Pervomaiyskiy !

Terry pointed out that she spend every second of the 10 minutes it took me to load the bike up and do a few checks, staring at us out the office window. I managed to get a pic thru the office window, but I am afraid it does not do her justice. She looks quite plain here, but I am sure Terry would back me up when I tell you in real life, she was stunning and she definitely knew how to make an entrance.

So for anyone who follows the Sibirsky Extreme Trail in future, I want updates on Olga at the waypointed hotel in Pervomaiyskiy !

It really does look like the camera did fog up as it 's not very clear.

This worked OK but the other couple with us had a Zumo 660 and they are worse, only accepting about 150 waypoints so after about half of each route it would have a straight line to the end !

The Zumo 660 has a special option for off-road tracks. You can directly load a track that someone else has logged, or if you have a route, let Basecamp convert it to a track (right click > convert to track). You can then visualise it on the Zumo and choose its color. Only down side is that you will not get spoken instructions.